From 8 to 10 September, Guimarães will host the eighth National Urban Cleaning Meeting (ENLU), promoted by the Urban Cleaning Association – Partnership for Smarter and More Sustainable Cities (ALU). After touring Braga, Loulé, Cascais, Funchal and Porto, the event now heads to Portugal’s birthplace, Guimarães, integrating the Guimarães 26 – European Green Capital calendar, as announced in a press release.
According to the same source, under the motto “[De]constructing the future,” the initiative proposes a broad reflection on the role of urban cleaning in transforming cities. The program will also reflect the evolution of ALU’s areas of intervention, including themes such as the management of public space, green areas and parks, beaches and waterways, as well as environmental enforcement, reinforcing an increasingly comprehensive and integrated approach.
For three days, Guimarães will be the meeting point for the national urban cleaning community, bringing together municipalities, companies, technicians, policy-makers and experts to discuss the sector’s main challenges and opportunities.
In this sense, ENLU asserts itself as a privileged space for sharing knowledge, good practices and innovative solutions, promoting an integrated and sustainable approach to the management and cleaning of public space.
Ana Raimundo, president of the Board of Directors of the Urban Cleaning Association, highlights the importance of this edition: “The invitation extended to ALU by Guimarães to host ENLU in the year it is European Green Capital is a recognition of the quality of the work that has been carried out in favor of the cleanliness and sustainability of cities. The fact that Guimarães includes the eighth ENLU in the official program of this year, so special and with international impact, shows how we are aligned with a vision of a more sustainable future for cities, in which urban cleaning is part of the debate and a decisive element for people’s quality of life.”
Also, Alberto Martins, Environment Councillor of the Guimarães City Council, reinforces this mission: “The responsibility undertaken by Guimarães as host of this edition of the National Meeting on Urban Cleaning underscores the city’s role as a national and European reference in good practices of urban cleaning, waste management and community participation. The event will also continue to involve the entire Guimarães community, and beyond, in reflecting on public space and the construction of more sustainable and resilient cities, fulfilling the main mission as European Green Capital.”
